At-a-Glance Hardware Details

Lion Server makes it easy for admins to obtain basic data regarding server hardware through the new Server application.

The "Lion" Server may be the last version of the Mac OS X Server that matters, but if that's the case, it's going out with a roar. It's a solid operating system that was designed for ease of use and lives up to that goal. What other goals Apple may have for the Lion Server aren't easily described. Since Apple's exit from the enterprise server market at the beginning of the year, the company has tried to position its Mac Mini and Mac Pro server-ish configurations as replacements for the rack-mounted Xserve. But if Apple has plans to expand its server business, it's doing a good job of disguising them. The operating system's management tools are a confusing mix of legacy tools and new utilities that unnecessarily overlap in many places. It's hard to recommend Lion Server to anyone except the most fanatical of Mac loyalists. Consumer king Apple could care less about its server customers, and I suspect that the company could walk away from that line of business in a year and only suffer minimal backlash from users.

P. J. Connolly began writing for IT publications in 1997 and has a lengthy track record in both news and reviews. Since then, he's built two test labs from scratch and earned a reputation as the nicest skeptic you'll ever meet. Before taking up journalism, P. J. was an IT manager and consultant in San Francisco with a knack for networking the Apple Macintosh, and his love for technology is exceeded only by his contempt for the flavor of the month. Speaking of which, you can follow P. J. on Twitter at pjc415, or drop him an email at pjc@eweek.com.